When: 1 November 1955 (1955-11-01)-30 April 1975 (1975-04-30)
19 years, 180 days Where: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia; mainly fought in South Vietnam Who:( See Below) Communist Forces North Vietnam
Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam
Viet Cong
Cambodia
Khmer Rouge
Laos
Pathet Lao People's Republic of China Soviet Union North Korea
Anti- Communist Forces
South Vietnam United States South Korea Australia Philippines New Zealand Thailand
Cambodia
Khmer Republic
Laos
Kingdom of Laos
Republic of China
Republic of China What: The Vietnam War, was a military conflict fought mainly in Southern Vietnam between 1959 and 1975. The war arose as a continuation of the first Indochina war, which was fought when the Vietnamese tried to gain independence from France after World War Two; the war was also a matter of conflicting political and social opinions between the two nations. Literally, the Vietnam war arose as a result of North Vietnam and the VietCong attempting to overthrow the South Vietnamese governmet. Why: The Vietnam war, was fought for many reason, most evident was that it was a war agianst communism but also a war to surpress nationalist self-determination. America wanted to contain communism, beliveing that they could save South Vietnam from its wrath. Furthermore, the United States had a reputation to uphold in being the stongest nation in the fight against communism and they could not afford to let the other allies down whom where looking to the United States to stop the spread of communism.
Key People:
Dwight D. Eisenhower- The 34th U.S. president; popularized the domino theory that was later used to justify increased U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh - Socialist/ nationalist activist; founded PCI and Viet Minh; established Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945
Bao Dai - Last Vietnamese emperor who took power in 1926; continued as figurehead untill 1950 -unpopular
Vo Nguyen Giap - Viet Minh general; used guerrilla tactics successfully against Japanese during World War II, then orchestrated defeat of French forces at Dien Bien Phu in 195
Harry S Truman - 33rd U.S. president; rejected Ho’s calls for U.S. recognition of the DRV
George F. Kennan- A U.S. State Department analyst who first articulated the doctrine of containment in 1947, arguing that the United States could keep Communism from spreading simply by deterring Soviet expansion at critical points, mostly in Europe. The idea of containment became very influential and served as the basis of U.S. foreign policy for much of the Cold War.
John F. Kennedy -The 35th U.S. president, whose decision to send U.S. “military advisors” into Vietnam in 1962 marked the first official U.S. involvement in the country. Although Kennedy and his administration backed the corrupt Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam, they ultimately decided to back a coup to overthrow Diem in November 1963. Just weeks later, Kennedy was assassinated, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president.
Ngo Dinh Diem--the U.S.-backed leader of the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam from 1955 until 1963
Richard M. Nixon-the 37th U.S. president, ordered the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam in the early 1970s; engaged in a policy of Vietnamization to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam and hand over military authority to the South Vietnamese; expanded the scope of the war by secretly authorizing illegal military actions in Cambodia and Laos.
Key Events:
The First Indochina War- fought in French IndoChina from December 19,1946 until August 1, 1954 between between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Emperor Bảo Đại's Vietnamese National Army against the Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp, a anticolonail conflict
The Tet Offensive-1968, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong launched a massive campaign attacking nearly thirty U.S. targets and dozens of other cities in South Vietnam; "the United States pushed back the offensive and won a tactical victory, American media coverage characterized the conflict as a defeat; Lai Massacre --in which frustrated U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in a small village.
The Fall of Saigon- "Nixon engaged in diplomatic maneuvering with China and the USSR—and stepped up bombing of North Vietnam—The U.S. government continued to fund the South Vietnamese army-funding quickly dwindled; Nixon became embroiled in the Watergate scandal that led to his resignation in August 1974, North Vietnamese forces stepped up their attacks on the South and finally launched an all-out offensive in the spring of 1975--On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, who reunited the country under Communist rule as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,thus ending the Vietnam War."
Outcomes: The war resulted in a multitude of casualties including: nearly 2 million Vietnamese civilan deaths,1.1 million North Vietnamese troops, 200,000 South Vietnamese troops, and 58,000 U.S. troops. The widespread bombings across South Vietnam visually destroy the landscapes and spread disease and dangerous health problems. South Vietnam was eventually reunited under the control of north Vietnam combined under the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, establishing its capital at Hanoi and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The war did not affect the United States’ status as a superpower, and although North Vietnam won the war,Vietnam’s postwar period was filled with more fighting, poverty, and suffering for its people, and a long term social depression dicatated by excessive drug use.
The Veitnam War
When: 1 November 1955 (1955-11-01)-30 April 1975 (1975-04-30)19 years, 180 days
Where: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia; mainly fought in South Vietnam
Who: ( See Below)
Communist Forces
North Vietnam
Anti- Communist Forces
What: The Vietnam War, was a military conflict fought mainly in Southern Vietnam between 1959 and 1975. The war arose as a continuation of the first Indochina war, which was fought when the Vietnamese tried to gain independence from France after World War Two; the war was also a matter of conflicting political and social opinions between the two nations. Literally, the Vietnam war arose as a result of North Vietnam and the VietCong attempting to overthrow the South Vietnamese governmet.
Why: The Vietnam war, was fought for many reason, most evident was that it was a war agianst communism but also a war to surpress nationalist self-determination. America wanted to contain communism, beliveing that they could save South Vietnam from its wrath. Furthermore, the United States had a reputation to uphold in being the stongest nation in the fight against communism and they could not afford to let the other allies down whom where looking to the United States to stop the spread of communism.
Key People:
Dwight D. Eisenhower- The 34th U.S. president; popularized the domino theory that was later used to justify increased U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam.
George F. Kennan- A U.S. State Department analyst who first articulated the doctrine of containment in 1947, arguing that the United States could keep Communism from spreading simply by deterring Soviet expansion at critical points, mostly in Europe. The idea of containment became very influential and served as the basis of U.S. foreign policy for much of the Cold War.
John F. Kennedy -The 35th U.S. president, whose decision to send U.S. “military advisors” into Vietnam in 1962 marked the first official U.S. involvement in the country. Although Kennedy and his administration backed the corrupt Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam, they ultimately decided to back a coup to overthrow Diem in November 1963. Just weeks later, Kennedy was assassinated, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president.
Ngo Dinh Diem--the U.S.-backed leader of the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam from 1955 until 1963
Richard M. Nixon-the 37th U.S. president, ordered the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam in the early 1970s; engaged in a policy of Vietnamization to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam and hand over military authority to the South Vietnamese; expanded the scope of the war by secretly authorizing illegal military actions in Cambodia and Laos.
Key Events:
Outcomes: The war resulted in a multitude of casualties including: nearly 2 million Vietnamese civilan deaths,1.1 million North Vietnamese troops, 200,000 South Vietnamese troops, and 58,000 U.S. troops. The widespread bombings across South Vietnam visually destroy the landscapes and spread disease and dangerous health problems. South Vietnam was eventually reunited under the control of north Vietnam combined under the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, establishing its capital at Hanoi and Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The war did not affect the United States’ status as a superpower, and although North Vietnam won the war,Vietnam’s postwar period was filled with more fighting, poverty, and suffering for its people, and a long term social depression dicatated by excessive drug use.
Works Cited